How a handful of cardamom is able to cure a serious case of wanderlust.

Pretty close to my flat, there is a small market. Especially on days, when my desire to wander gets stronger and stronger, I love to take a stroll through the diverse and colorful market stands. There is so many different smells, colors, voices and languages. The hundreds of people rushing through, busy with their groceries and the stall owners with their puffery are always making me feel like I took a shortcut to Istanbul. Especially the taste of cardamom brings back memories to wonderful vacations there.

A while ago, I took my camera and the SIGMA 17-50 f/2,8 EX DX OS HSM contemporary with me and I decided to try out photographing at the market. I asked a lot of stall owners, if it was ok to take a photo of them and was positively surprised that every single one of them was totally up for being photographed.

I couldn’t resist photographing the diverse range of products that each market stall had to offer with a very small focal length. The resulting photos totally remind me of hidden objects pictures and I could look at them a million times and still discover something each time.

In the middle of the daily chaos of a market like this one, you always have to have your camera at hand. Otherwise you’ll definitely miss out on one or another great photo moment. That’s exactly why I decided to bring my beloved 17-50mm lens. With this lens I have a huge variety of focal lengths to choose from, without a change of light intensity and without having to change the lens.

Another reason to go to a market is the usually amazing gastronomy. All those oriental influences, fresh herbs and exotic spices are the perfect ingredients for the most delicious salads, baked potatoes and many more dishes.

It’s definitely worth exploring the cities more unknown corners, not only because it’s definitely more quiet and peaceful there, but also because there is plenty of photo motifs. Playing kids, a cat you enjoys a sunbath or a stall owner on his smoking or coffee break.

Last Sunday I returned to the market once again – this time in the morning. Since it wasn’t a market day, the stalls remained closes and there weren’t any people. The atmosphere was unusual, but still very special. The quiet replaced the hustle of the weekdays and only a few strollers and runners were to be seen.